


Counselor Kira

by rosweldrmr



Series: Balance Series [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 20:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3583455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosweldrmr/pseuds/rosweldrmr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek hears Kira before she knocks. The way her shoes scuff over the concrete of the hall outside. The way she steadies her breathing and finally stops pacing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Counselor Kira

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ivorygraves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivorygraves/gifts).



> This takes place in the [Balance](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3580167) universe. I recommend you start with that first and then read the rest of the [Balance Universe](http://archiveofourown.org/series/230973) fics. These are all written as bonus fics for [Ivy](ivorygraves.tumblr.com). You are my bae, my gurl, my homeslice and midnight fandom partner. Let's go on a road trip together!

\--

Derek hears Kira before she knocks. The way her shoes scuff over the concrete of the hall outside. The way she steadies her breathing and finally stops pacing.

“Come in,” he calls just before she knocks.

She makes an abortive sound of her knuckles clunking against the metal door. She blows out a puff of breath and slides it open.

“Hey,” she says, twisting the hem of her shirt around her fingers.

“What’s up?”

“I just… I just wanted to see how you were doing,” she admits.

Derek puts the book he’s holding down, unsure how to respond. “Good, I guess… considering.”

She nods, “Yeah. Stiles told Scott about the nightmares.”

He assumes the ‘Scott told me’ is implied. “They’re gone now.”

“No, I know. I mean… I know Scott killed her. So, of course the nightmares would stop. But… you know, when Stiles was telling us about them, I just… I just wanted to make sure you were okay, now?” It's obvious she’s uncomfortable. He can feel her embarrassment like it’s squirming in his veins. But past that, under the normal awkward-eighteen-year-old-kitsune, he can feel her genuine concern.

Derek’s not sure what to make of it. To be honest, he’s never really been sure what to make of Kira. She blew into town like a lightning storm, wreaking havoc and disrupting their group dynamic. She's just too nice. It’s not normal to be this nice.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I mean, I’m alive,” he tells her and is a little surprised it’s the truth. He could have just lied, told her he was fine. But he feels like lying to someone like Kira would have to be some sort of crime.

“That’s good. I mean I’m glad you’re okay,” she says, finally taking a few steps into the loft. She’s still at the top of the stairs. He has to remind himself that this is the girl who once grabbed a live wire when she didn’t know if she would survive, to save others. It seems at odds with the nervous girl in front of him now.

But it didn’t take a katana to make her brave.

“I’m starting to get the hang of things,” he admits, again surprising himself with his candor.

She lights up with a smile that radiates sincerity. “Good! That’s good. Beacon Hills is lucky to have you as a deputy.” Her smile fades a little, and Derek can feel the shift in her emotions from relief to trepidation. “Have you, uh, spoken to Lydia lately?”

“No?” he asks, not sure where all the anxiety is coming from, him or her.

“Oh, okay. I just thought, I don’t know, maybe you should talk to her. The nightmare thing got everyone pretty concerned. And I know she helped with the investigation…” her thought sort of trails off and he has no idea what she’s trying to get at. Honestly, she’s the most difficult person to get a read on.

“Yeah?”

“And if she keeps working with the department, and you, I just thought… you might want to talk. Smooth things over.”

He groans. “What you mean ‘smooth things over’? She’s the one who stopped coming over. She barely even looks at me in the precinct.” He has no idea why he’s defending himself when she had been the one to just cut him out of her life one day. And he knew she went to Peter for help, of all people.

“Well, you know, things look different depending on how you look at it. And I just want to make sure you’re both okay working together.” Her panic ratchets up a notch, and he tries to reign in his anger. She’s not the one he upset with.

“Fine, I’ll talk to her,” he finally concedes and the defeat of losing to Kira, of all people, rubs his ego raw.

“Just ask her what happened. See what she says. I’m sure you two can work things out,” she smiles and he grumbles a ‘Thanks’ before she quickly excuses herself.

Outside the door, he can hear her silent happy dance. She’s light on her feet, but the elation he gets from her makes him honestly consider talking to Lydia.

He doesn’t know if he can bring himself to ask her why she left. But he can at least ask her why she went to Peter. And Kira’s right, they’re going to have to get used to working together. And anything would be better than the icy stares she gives the back of his head, and the silent ache of despair that she seems to project in his general direction anytime they’re in the same room together for more than a few minutes.

He pulls out his phone and texts Kira a quick, ‘Thanks’ because he feels guilty and if there’s one thing the killer nightmare spirit, Albastı, taught him it was to rid himself of guilt as quickly as possible.

And the nearly incapacitating explosion of joy that erupts from the far end of the hall when Kira’s phone beeps is alarming. He smiles too, overwhelmed by the feeling of her happiness.

He’s still not sure what to make of Kira. She’s a hard one to pin down. She doesn’t have a motive for doing things, like most people. Other than genuine concern. It’s been a long time since he’s had to interact with anyone who didn’t have some kind of agenda, and he realizes he’s probably just made a lifelong friend and he’s not sure what to do about it. So he settles for programming her into his favorites, right under ‘Scott’.

It seems appropriate when she texts back a string of thumbs up, clapping, lightning, fox (or wolf, he can't tell) emojis followed by a policeman and what he thinks is knife meant to be a sword and then nine smiley faces. He has no idea what it means, but he gets the vague impression of collaboration or team work.

If only talking to Lydia were that easy...


End file.
